Monday, April 19, 2010

More Models To Ponder - or Modelapalooza

Since there has been a plethora of articles on Models of Magick circulating the blogsphere, I thought that I would add a piece that was part of my article “Magick and the Eucharistic Mass”, which was published in the book “Talking About the Elephant.” My first exposure to the concept of magickal models was from a book written by probably one of the greatest minds in the area of the occult and magickal philosophy, who is named Forrest Landry. This book was privately published, it’s not available to purchase on Amazon so don’t bother looking. I have produced a distillation of his introduction because I find it so interesting and compelling. You can read it over and come up with your own opinion.

According to the writings of Forrest Landry, in his privately published book (“The Theory of Magick” by Forest Landry – Introduction, p. viii – xiv), there are five different theories on magic. Each of these theories is correct as far as they go, but each is limited. A metaphysical theory of magic is the sixth theory, which Forrest outlines in his book. I will briefly define each theory here, by loosely quoting his introduction. The Social Theory of Magic (as proposed by Daniel Lawrence O’Keefe) would fit into the Psychological Theory, since it is primarily concerned with symbolic manipulation, language and social psychology.

Spirit Theory - Magic is mediated by Spirits. The Spirit theory of magic attempts to understand the experience of the magical, and explain the practice of magic in terms of elemental (nature) spirits, faeries, angels, demons, and/or deities, and the decisions made by these (and other) nonphysical agencies of consciousness. The Universe is a force of Spiritual consciousness - magic is seen as a means of uniting with the divine.

Psychological Theory - Magic is a psychological perception. The psychological theory of magic attempts to understand the experience of magic and explain the practice of magic in terms of psychological, perceptual, or sociological dynamics and processes. The idea that magic is a form of deception (illusion) or that it is used for psychosomatic healing are aspects of this view - an aspect of specifically human consciousness, history, and bodily perception - described as aspects of one’s personal subconscious or unconscious mind.

Rhetorical Theory - Magic is a currently unknown physical science. The rhetorical theory of magic attempts to understand the experience of the magical and explain the practice of magic in terms of natural processes as defined by currently known causal and physical laws. Its primary claim is that magic will eventually (at least in principle) be fully understood and described as science. As such, the rhetorical theory of magic considers that magic will eventually be fully amenable to scientific understanding, even if it currently is not. The magical experience is described as an event that is currently and temporarily inexplicable by known scientific methods - like the relationship between alchemy and chemistry.

Energy Theory - Magic is mediated by paranormal energies. The energy theory of magic attempts to understand the experiences of the magical and to describe the practice of magic in terms of various nonphysical and subtle energies. In this view, the universe is pervaded with one or more fields of subtle energy and this energy can have effects on consciousness and certain physical processes. It is considered that these energies can be manipulated via a number of techniques, including magic. As such, many theories of paranormal energies posit cause and effect relationships as a part of their basis. In this context, magic is seen as a means by which one can influence the material world by manipulating or changing the movements and interactions of these subtle energy fields.

Chaos Theory - Magic is mediated by shifting chaos dynamics. The chaos theory of magic attempts to understand the experiences of the magical and to describe the practice of magic in terms of random, chaotic, or fractal processes typically found in nature. The chaos theory of magic describes all aspects of magic and magical experiences in terms of these dynamics and the mathematical models that define them. The physical universe is stochastic, or random, in nature. While the random processes of nature sometimes combine to form the appearance of stable laws of causality, this is viewed as an exceptional or unusual circumstance. Reality is arbitrary and is defined only as a function of one’s own beliefs. There is a correspondence in chaos magic between the methods of magical action and the theories of Quantum Mechanics.

Many Chaos practitioners consider the Chaos theory to be a meta-theory, using whatever model works at the moment while not being attached to any specific method or model. In my opinion, this ideal has not really been effectively followed, and Chaos magick appears to have succumbed to becoming a theory or model itself.

Metaphysical Theory - Magic is mediated by deep metaphysical laws and dynamics. The metaphysical theory of magic attempts to understand the experiences of the magical and to describe the practice of magic in terms of deeper general conceptions about the essential nature of consciousness, choice and creation. The metaphysical theory of magic describes the various aspects of magic, magical practice and magical experiences, in terms of a natural dynamics of consciousness and various combinations of metaphysical principles of ontology, ethics and aesthetics. In its complete form, these conceptions and dynamics are based upon an even deeper formal theory developed in terms of three absolute axioms and three domain fundamental modalities.

Metaphysics, which considers the nature of self, the nature of reality, and the interrelationship between them, describes the essence of magic in terms of forward resonance between a multiplicity of worlds experienced by the self. Within this view, the universe (as a world) is considered to have, as an intrinsic of all events, a community of creation. This in combination with the focused participation of consciousness provides the basis of practical magic in each world.

In this view, magic is real, has a definite and unique process and has knowable, defined, and well understood characteristics. Although magic is real, it is considered by its basic nature to be un-analyzable and indeterminate with respect to observable scientific, causal, or physical processes. In respects to other theories of magic, the metaphysical view clarifies and supports some ideas (as representative of deeper truths), and discards or replaces others.

So these are the models of magick as proposed by Forrest Landry, and to which I completely agree. In addition, one could consider an anthropological model, that would propose that magick is a primitive and superstitious version of science. My friend Nicholas told me that some Chaos magicians believe in a Cybernetic model. “The Cybernetic model is based on information and computer sciences, whereby an act of divination is similar to downloading information, while an act of practical magic is compared to inputting specific values into a computer process and collecting the results.” (Nicholas is a good friend of mine and he has a blog as well, which you can find here.)

Now that I have listed several different models, and all but the metaphysical model are incomplete (in my biased opinion), the question is - what is your favorite model? Can you think of one that hasn’t been covered here? And remember, they’re just models!

2 comments:

I prefer the psychological model. It makes the fewest assumptions. Almost every other model requires us to assume that something exists that we can neither qualify nor examine closely. With the psychological model we know, scientifically, that everything in play exists and how it works, at least loosely.

"So these are the models of magick as proposed by Forrest Landry, and to which I completely agree. In addition, one could consider an anthropological model, that would propose that magick is a primitive and superstitious version of science. My friend Nicholas told me that some Chaos magicians believe in a Cybernetic model. “The Cybernetic model is based on information and computer sciences, whereby an act of divination is similar to downloading information, while an act of practical magic is compared to inputting specific values into a computer process and collecting the results.” (Nicholas is a good friend of mine and he has a blog as well, which you can find here.)"

This would tie in with the so-called "Information model". I would hazard that at present most versions of the information model are also meta-models. As an aside there are two variants, "the memetic" and the "semiotic" that seem to be fairly popular right now. I'm not so sure they represent models so much as techniques for mapping one's model and self, however.

I'd also note that while Chaos magick practitioners are advised that "belief switching" or "model switching" is the most advantageous approach, if one cannot manage the cognitive dissonance that it creates, then one is encouraged to pick their favorite model and stick to it until "it works." After the model has been efficiently assimilated, you then switch into another one and push until you assimilate that. And so on, and so forth. Clearly the problem with this is that it takes a long time to do, and very few people are willing to do that. As such, in real practice, you tend to land with the first model and keep to it like glue anyway.